Many in Charleston’s preservation community embraced the recent recognition of 18th century Irish architect James Hoban and his contributions to the city’s architecture.
While some recognition is due, it is important to note that both Hoban’s design for the Charleston County Courthouse and the White House are versions of the Leinster House in Dublin. Obviously, these late 18th century efforts did little to reinforce the new country’s post-revolutionary zeal and, in Charleston, may have been efforts that reflected some ambivalence to newfound or expected freedoms.
It is Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the first professional architect in the United States, who deserves far more recognition. Latrobe emigrated to the United States specifically to engage in the new country’s expressive architectural possibilities. His association with President Thomas Jefferson led to his post as surveyor of public buildings and eventually as the second architect of the capitol.
Latrobe’s architectural contributions include adding the iconic north and south porticos to Hoban’s White House design and re-designing and overseeing construction of the Capitol building, originally proposed by Dr. William Thornton. Architectural historian Jeffrey Cohen described the Capitol revisions this way: “A building graced by (Latrobe’s) segmental geometries and practical vaulting, it explained itself without theatricality and ostentation. The Capitol expressed democracy physically.”
A decade later, Jefferson sought Latrobe’s opinion for his vision of an “academical village” for the University in Virginia. The correspondence from Latrobe included his now-executed designs for Pavilions VIII and IX, and a suggestion for the addition of a “Center building which ought to exhibit … Mass and details.” Jefferson’s response was to anchor his academy with a domed cylindrical library, the Rotunda.
Latrobe’s commitment to the ideals of the new country was manifested in four central themes to distinguish its architecture:
Responsiveness to climate, which varied widely throughout the country, including protection from elements and natural lighting through skylights.
Transition space between inside and outside, serving to filter people as they arrived, depending on their business at a particular location.
Movement or circulation throughout interior spaces allowing one to have views in different directions and through other spaces.
Abandonment of derivations from France or England, opting for ancient models such as those from Greece and Rome, to reflect philosophically independence.
These distinctive, democratic principles are reflected in significant work by Latrobe’s students in Charleston, including William Strickland, whose central building Randolph Hall anchors the College of Charleston campus much as the University of Virginia’s Rotunda, and the expressive dignity and simplicity of Robert Mills’ Fireproof Building and First Baptist Church.
I would argue, however, that it is the single-house piazza that demonstrates the most radical corresponding gesture to the nation’s repudiation of its colonial ties to England, one that is clearly demonstrative of Latrobe’s architectural principles.
Throughout the city, early Georgian and federal style buildings were reconfigured to accommodate the addition of a multi-storied side porch, and new buildings invariably included this feature. This singular element is representative of the nation’s democratic aspirations, one that was mutable in scale and detail based on the needs and desires of the residents, and ever present in hundreds of varying forms from the late 18th century through today’s Charleston.
We may never know exactly who saw the potential in a simple side porch as an expression of an ideal. Perhaps it was one of Latrobe’s students. Or maybe it was Major General Thomas Pinckney — one of Charleston’s “gentleman” architects and designer of the mansion at 14 George St., now Spoleto’s office. Maybe Pinckney was inspired after meeting Latrobe at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. One might also consider that Charleston has never hesitated to venerate its ancestors so perhaps it was a woman or a slave, echoes of which may be seen in the East Side’s House of the Future by the artist David Hammons (with Albert Alston).
But the visual evidence is clear, and the piazza is a noteworthy symbol of the first flames of democracy in the United States. All you really must do is look around to see how diverse, practical, and revolutionary this simple gesture can be.
Whitney Powers founded the Charleston company Studio A Architecture and has served on the city’s Board of Architectural Review.
